Transparent transistor technology

By 03.31.2003 :: 10:53AM EDT03.31.2003

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how many sci-fi movies have we seen over the years that basically show a sheet of glass with images being displayed on it? well, the reality might be sneaking up on us. recent transparent transistor discoveries (covered by sander in chipgeek) will lead the way to displays that can be almost completely transparent, allowing them to be built into a sheet of plastic or glass, or even a car windshield, rearview mirror ,or other device. the transparent transistor, while useful for such applications, has one additional signficant benefit. by physically observing what happens at various transistor states scientists may be able to learn more about how transistors in general work, which could lead to better and faster products across the board. in my opinion, transparent transistors will lead to items like jewelry which could contain a patient's medical file or some kind of personal data encryption algorithms.

user comments 98 comment(s)

first post ?(11:25am est mon mar 31 2003)crts are history, lcds- a short lifespan predicted, oleds fit in with this technology. – by rcaman

rick(11:29am est mon mar 31 2003)you could already have jewelry like you describe.you could just put in in a gold bracelet instead… – by wiggin

can't be clear enough(12:25pm est mon mar 31 2003)while the flat sides of the transistor may allow each transistor to be transparent, but we must keep in mind that these transistors have edges. when the front surface of a transistor would not be viewed at a perfectly perpendicular angle, there would be some refraction caused by the edge.

now, put this one transistor together with tens/hundreds/thousands of millions of it's friends, and the minute refraction of each one will compound.

and if the answer is “just view it dead on”, then the problem would be that you wouldn't be able to use your peripheral vision with the screen since it's not directly ahead, and nasty refraction would kick in.

also, what about connections? there need to be connectors between transistors. will traces be able to be etched onto the medium without causing extra refraction?

of course, this is my opinion… i could be wrong (stranger things have happened) – by arsonick

clear enough…(3:45pm est mon mar 31 2003)your logic is flawed. 100's of thousands of these close together would create a consistent refraction index. by imbeding them in low index of refraction materials, you could net out the equivilent of normal automotive glass.

or make them small enough, and relativly far apart, now they affect such a tiny angle of vision, that the human eye either won't detect them, or the brain would discard them.

as for connections, have you looked at a piece of glass with lcds in it before? do you see the connections to those cells? yeah you can see the cells, but can you see the connections… – by crashless

grin(3:51pm est mon mar 31 2003)something i have wanted to see for a long time is a static set of optics that can focus by an electric field. i've seen the piezo stuff, carbon tet lenses and deformable mirrors but i was thinking more along a simple refractive lens using a gradient index controlled by an electric or magnetic feild, even thought of defining the lens by scanning the grin with an electron beam, but really would like to see something simple and compact. (i know, none of these ideas are unique or new)

ok, i want zoom glasses like james bond. silly i know, because it would still take a several lenses to zoom and several to errect the image. maybe we can have glasses that are programmable according to your prescription. well if it holds shape without juice that would work.

ok, i give up, i have nothing to offer this technology.

sunblocks eventually break down. wonder if these things can last in the sun?– by diddly

rick(4:32pm est mon mar 31 2003)“by physically observing what happens at various transistor states scientists may be able to learn more about how transistors in general work”

er, i thionk they're already pretty knowledgeable about them. after all, a transistor is a man-made device. it's hrd to build a thing if you don't know how it works.

ask goatgeek, he's pretty sharp when it comes to electricity. – by /sm

i agree completely! a silly quote. how transistors work is in general well known. what to do with them is another story. how they work though? the blokes at bell labs had a pretty good idea of how they should work, when they built the first. btw, i go to oregon state. (one of the few places where they invented this gadget!) – by mike

fiber optics(9:53pm est mon mar 31 2003)maybe these kinds of transistors will allow some kind of optical processor core (an elusive bell labs dream for almost a decade), or maybe some kind of fiber optic implementations, or non-physical-contact interconnects. who knows? – by daily fiber

a new window of discoveries(11:52pm est mon mar 31 2003)this should open a new window for scientists. it should also help by placing a tracker on a person with alzheimers disease so if they get lost, they can be easily discovered. – by wildwargreymon

sir rick, i was going to stay clear, but then i got an idea. see, first off i was going to poke the usual constellation of tiny holes in everthing. grr..grrrrrr, be a goat and all that.

then it occurred to me, that although the speed of these devices is somewhere between awful and preposterous, if clear, then they could be made the size of entire pixels… then the big light went off…

imagine a base layer of something both conductive and reflective. aluminum, gold, whatever. next layer toward surface is organic led material. it just needs injections of electrons, and it happily glows. ok, on top of that a p-layer of transparent semiconductor, now etch channels in, and deposit another layer… voila… the fetoled – field effect transistor organic light emitting diode. heard of “last mile”? kind of the same, where the 'last trannie' in the amplifier chain is right above the oled material itself.

hmmm…

– by goatguy

hmm..(12:07am est wed apr 02 2003)i like the promise oleds have for relacing lcds too. fast, bright, great viewing angle. lets not handicap them with a bum technology.

i think these clear tranie things are as worthless as a side saddle on a hog. i know, lets make an invisible tv remote control. – by diddly

gfs(11:43am est sat may 14 2005)gsg – by rffsvc

yankee doodle went to town..(7:35am est fri sep 16 2005)hey guys im the new kid here n i have a question..

ite you noe how them big biggg tvs..which, if you look closley, you can see are a combination of like 9 or 16 tvs? will transistors b like that..or can u view it in like all one big screen? – by xsoulreeperx